National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1887-06-27
A SERMON ON HUNTING.
DIR. TALMAGE TAKES 1T AS A SUBJECT
FOR HIS SUNDAY DISCOURSE.
A Compnrlson Between Hunting for
Game and Hunting for Souls Co Bring
Into Chrisrs Presenoe-A Learned
Discourse on the Sport.

Tabernacle on Sabbath days are found there.
II is estimated that about three hundred
thousand strangers have visited this church
during the past year. The hymn sung this
morning was
"salvatlon, o, the Joyful soundl
It's pleasure to our ears;
sovereign balm for every wound
cordial for our fears"
Dr. Talmnge's text was "Hc was mighty
hunter before the Lord."-Genesis. z. y. He
In our day, hunting "a sport but in the
lands and the times invested with wild beasts,
y was matter OF life OF death with the people.
~ was very different from going out on a sun
shiny AFTERNOON with patent breechloader,t TO
shoot reed birds ON the Hats. when Pollux aud
Achilles and Diomedes went out to clear the
land OF lions and tigers and bears. My text
tets forth Nimrod as q hero when 1t presents
him with broad shoulders aud shaggy apparel
and sun Drowned face, and arm punched with
muscle, "a mighty hunter before the Lord. /"
| think he used the bow and tho arrow, with
! great success prncticing archery.
have thought " IL Is such grand thing and
a country, II 1t 1t Is not a better and drawer
thing 10 hunt down and destroy those great
| evils of society that are stalking the land with
| fierce eye and bloody paw and sharp tusk aud
| quick spring. ! have wondered II there is not
| such thing as Gospel hunting by which
| those who have been flying from the truth
lis mon ana the STs @
ing for an illustration when He said: 81 Will
! make you fishers of men" And SO / think I
have authority for using hunting ASIAN illustra-
| ton of Gospel truth, end pray God that there
may be many man in this congregation who
| shall begin to study Gospel archery, OF whom
may 9 a. While Be Sid HE wO'amighty
How much awkward Christian work there Is
done IN the world How many good people there
| are who drive souls away from Christ instead
| OF bringing them to Him religious blund-
erers who upset more than they right. Their
gun has crooked barrel, and kicks as IL goes
| on. They are like clumsy comrade who goes
mtnt he ought TO DC most quiet, he Is CRACKING
| an alder or falling over log and Tightening
away the game How few Christian people
| have ever learned the lesson of which read
at the be ginning Of the service, how that the
| Lord Jesus Christ at the well went from talking
about cup ofwater to the most practlcal re.
| licious truths, which won the woman's soul
for God Jesus in the Wilderness was break
ing bread to the people. think II was good
bread: 1t was very light bread, and the yeast
h aGn srden wS e 1ss a Christ ssas s
Beware of the yeast, or Of The leayen Of the
Phatisees y SO natural transition II was;
hGg sw easily hey all gss Ihd Him But
stand how to fasten the truths of God
and religion 10 the souls of men! Truman
Osborne, one OF the evangelists who, went
| wonderful art in the right direction. He came
TO my fathers house one day, and while We
were all seated in the room, he said: ,'Mr
|
Father said: Eyes, all but Dewitt" Then
/ Truman Osborne looked down into the fire.
place, and began to tell story OF storm that
came on the mountains, and all the sheep
were in the fold: but there was one lamb out.
side that persisted in the storm. Had no
looked me IN the eye, should have been an.
eeied when he told that story; but he looked
and beautifully done that never found any
peace until was sure was inside the fold,
where the othersheep are.
nrphprq n n hot orl
They were very precise in the matter. The
old books gave special directions as to how tue
archer should go and as TO what an archer
should do. He must stand erect and firm, his
left foot a. little in advance of his right foot.
with his left hand he must take hold of the
bow In the middle, and then with the three
should lay hold OF the arrow and afix It TO the
string-so precise was the direction given. But
how clumsy We are about religious work
How little skill and care we exercise How
often our arrows miss the mark oh, that we
might learn the art of doing good and become
"m,ehiy hunters before the Lordp,
in doing good, you must be Very y sure Of your
| weapon. There was something very fascl-
| mating about the archery Of olden times. Per-
with The bow and arrow Why the chief HP bSsl
ties fought by the English PIantagenets were
with the long bow. They would take the ar
row r OF p9ishss ;l wood and feather y With the
the, bowstrirg OF plated silk. The broad
fields of Apincourt and Solway Moss and
Neyille's Cross heard the loud thrum Of the
friends, we have a miehtier weapon than that,
1t is the arrow of the Gospel; 1t Is a sharp ar
row; - is straight arrow; 1t is feathered from
from bow made out of the wood OF the cross.
AS far as can estimate or calculate, 1t has
brought down four hundred million sonls.
row on to that bow string. and It's whirr was
was heard through the Corinthian theaters.
and through the court room, until the knees of
Felix knocked together. u was that arrow
out: "Oh, my sins Oh, my sinsl" lift strike
a man in the head 1t kills his skepticism, If u
STRIFE him in the heel it will turn his step, If u
strike him in the heart he throws up his
hands, as did one OF old when wounded In the
battle battle crying "oh' dallean' thou hast con-
In the armory of the Earl of Pembroke, there
are old eorslets which show that the arrow of
| the English used to go through the breastpate,
through the, body of the warrior, and out
Gnsnai VIZ s5ernr o, Lnas
| sword, piercing to the dividing asunder of soul
and body, and of the joints and marrow !
| Would 10 God we had more faith in that Cos
| pei The humblest man in this house. If he
had enough faith in him, could bring a hundred
| souls TO Jesus-perhaps 800. Just In proportion
| as this age seems to believe less and less In 1t,
| believe more ana more In II. What are men
| about that they will not accept their own de-
| liversnce2 There Is nothing proposed by men
that thi, can DO Snything IKE this Gospel The
philosophy of icicles; the religion of Theodore
Parker was a sirocco of the desert. covering up
| the soul with dry sand; the religion of Renan
| ligion of Thomas Carlyle Is only condensed
| London fog: the religion of the Huxleys and
the spencers Is merely a pedestal on which hu.
the soul, looking up to the stars, Offering
| no help to the nations that crouch and groan
at the base; Tell me where there is one man
who has rejected thai GOSPEL for another, who
Is thoIoughly satisfied, and helped, and con-
| tented in his skepticisin, and Will take tho
| car tomorrow and ride 800 miles to see him.
The fun power Of the Gospel has not yet been
| touched. As sportsman throws up his hand
and catches the, ball. flying through the air,
| Just so easily Will this Gospel after awhile
catch this round world flying from It's orbit
Give 1t full swing, and it will pardon
| every sin, heal every wound, cure every
trouble, emancipate every slave, and ransom
| every nation. Ye Christian men and women
who go out this afternoon to do Christian
| work, MS you go into the Sunday schools, aud
the lay preaching stations, and the penten,
| tiaries, and the asylums, | want YOU TO feel
pared with which the lightning has no speed,
und eyalanches have no heit, aud the thun-
derbolts Of heaven have no power: It is the arr
row Of the ,omnipotent Gospel, Take careful
| aim. Pull the arrow clear back until the head
strikes the bow. Then let IL fly. And may the
slain OF the Lord be many.
| hunting you must hunt In unfrequenied and
| secluded places. Why does the hunter go three
or four days In the Pennsylvania forests or
| over Raquette lake into the wilds OF the Adj.
! rondacks? il Is the only way to do. The deer
| are shy, and one "bang" of the gun clears the
forest. From the California stage you see as
| you go over the plains, here and there a
coyote trotting along, almost within
| range OF the gun-Sometimes quite
within range of II. No one cares for that; il Is
| worthless. The good game Is hidden aud
secluded. Every hunter knows that. so,
for Christ, and Of most value totSe chnr s are
| seeluoed. They do not come In your way.
| You viii have TO go where they arc. Yonder
| they are down in that cellar, yonder they are
| mp inthatRarfeL Far away from the door OF
| any church, the Gospel arrow has not been
| pointed at them, The tract distributor and the
| CilY missionary sOmelimes inst cAlnh q gllmnsn